Even though Philip K. Dick’s work inspired some of the
best-known and most beloved sci-fi movies such as
Blade Runner, Minority
Report and Total Recall, the truth is that
the true Dick-ian (don’t snigger you!) movie

reflecting the author’s
metaphysical obsession with what reality is and what makes one human
has
yet to be made.

A Scanner Darkly might just
be that movie.

For starters, it is based on one of Dick’s best works,
one informed by his own painful experiences in the drug culture of
California in the 1970s. It neatly balances Dick’s own
autobiographical experiences, the narrative’s plot requirements and
infuses it with his customary black humour. Yes, despite its bleak
subject matter it is also quite funny.

Secondly,
it is directed by one of the more interesting directors working in
Hollywood right now, namely Richard Linklater. Okay, Linklater flirted
with the Dark Side when he directed Jack Black in the insipid School of
Rock, but Linklater’s general filmography points towards more
interesting and less mainstream fare: Dazed and Confused (1993),
Before Sunrise (1995), Waking Life (2001) and Before Sunset
(2004).

A Scanner Darkly would be filmed in the same as
Linklater’s Waking Life: first as live action and then with
animation imposed over it. This might come to bad news for those audience members
who reached for their Dramamine as the wave-y animation effects caused
more seasickness than The Blair Witch Project or the latest Michael
Bay movie. This is might not be such a novel approach anymore, but
still interesting and original enough in Hollywood terms.

Hopes are high on this one: it may not be the new
Matrix at the box office, but just might appease
even the most rabid Dickhead (dedicated fans of Philip K. Dick) . . .
especially after the disappointing likes of
Impostor and Paycheck, which were
also based on the author’s material . . .

Note: The movie also stars Robert Downey Jr. and
with that actor’s drug-related history A Scanner Darkly would
probably seem autobiographical then . . .

Set in a future world where America has lost
the war on drugs, undercover cop Fred (Keanu Reeves) is one of many agents
hooked on the popular drug Substance D, which causes its users to develop
split personalities. Fred, for instance, is also Bob, a notorious drug
dealer. Along with his superior officers, Fred sets up an elaborate scheme
to catch Bob and tear down his operation.